Loser Like Me (Leo Fitz)
by D.G.Tales
Summary: Nicole was best friends with Leo Fitz at the SHIELD Academy, however since she's a mutant, there are certain restrictions still in place about how long she can stay at the Academy. She has one year. But just when she thinks things are looking up, they start to go wrong.
1. Prolouge

Have you ever loved someone who didn't love you back?

I have.

Have you ever loved someone who was in love with someone else?

I have.

Have you ever loved someone who was in love with one of your friends?

I have.

Have you ever loved someone who spends all of your study time with said friend?

I have.

Have you ever loved someone who only loves you as a sister?

I have.

I you answered yes to any of these questions, than you and I have got something in common.

My name is Nicole McCoy, and this is my story.


	2. A Day Like Any Other

It started out a day like any other. That's how most stories start isn't it? Rather cliché, but it's the truth. Nicole McCoy's head really did fall off of the lab table. Literally. She fell asleep in the lab most nights. She was always in the lab researching. Now it was just for fun, she had already completed her thesis and her entrance essay for the SHIELD Academy. She was hoping to get into Sci-Tech.

She groaned and got up, ran a hand through her bright blue hair, staggered down the hall to her room, got dressed and shuffled down to the breakfast hall.

Nicole went to the food table and grabbed herself some Fruit Loops. And coffee. A lot of coffee. Boy did she need it. She sat down by Bobby and Kitty.

"Rough night Nicki? I heard you didn't come back to your room." Bobby was smirking. Kitty just rolled her eyes. She was her roommate and therefore knew what Nicole had been up to. It was nowhere near what Bobby was insinuating.

Nicole yawned "I was up late working in the lab."

A BAMF! And a puff of smoke announced the arrival of Kurt.

"Working on what, Mein Freud?" He was one of the only ones who had any real interest into her work.

"I don't know. Dad gave me a couple of blood samples to look at. They were interesting. I got caught up, must've lost track of time and fallen asleep."

Kitty was finished eating. So she grabbed Bobby and began pulling him away. Unfortunately he wasn't finished.

"HEY!"

"Come on! We'll be late for class."

"I suppose I had better go as well. See you at lunch, Mein Freud."

Nicole envied her friends. She wished she wasn't a child genius with a doctorate already. It had always scared away other children. Other children who already knew what it was like to feel different. She sighed and started finishing her Fruit Loops. She thought about what the letter had said when she sent in her application.

'_We will inform you in due course about whether or not you have gained a place at our exclusive school.' _

She was worried about the word exclusive. Sure, Xavier's was exclusive, but that was only because the students were mutants and had nowhere else to go. She didn't even think she deserved a place at the school. Sure it was her dream, but her Dad had had to call in a couple of favours to even get them to consider her. That and the fact she had sent them her doctorate essay. It was about how mutation was not a bad thing, something to be accepted and _not _hated. She had brought together information from different sources. The most recent being a publication by her Father during his time as ambassador. Nicole included some of her own research.

She took a sip of her coffee and made a disgusted face when she realised she hadn't made it nearly strong enough. She took her plate and cup into the kitchen to clean up. She grabbed one of her energy drinks from the fridge.

They were in a box labelled '_Nicki's. DO NOT TOUCH!' _She noticed a couple were missing and made a mental reminder to ask Ororo later on. She had a habit of stealing them.

She groaned as she made her way back up to the lab. She sipped the drink as she jogged up the stairs. She stopped one door before the lab, knocked, received no answer, so she poked her head round. There was a mass of blue fur on the bed.

"Dad? If you don't get up now then you'll miss your class." There was a stirring from the bed.

"I'll be in the lab if you need me."

She exited the room by slamming the door. There was startled growl from behind it. She stood there for a moment.

She was worried about him. Her Father was Dr. Hank McCoy. The mutant ambassador to the United Nations. He had had so much stress. It wasn't healthy.

She moved into the lab and started the day's work.

At about 4 o'clock she realised that she had missed lunch. So she went down to the kitchen and pulled out some beef casserole. Everyone else was down in the danger room. Once she had heated it up the microwave she took it up to her room and got out a DVD of a Hawking lecture.

She didn't even think about going down to check the mail.

When it reached 7 o'clock, she went down for dinner. It was spaghetti tonight. It was also Nicole's turn to do the dishes.

She was joking and laughing with Warren (who was her drying partner) when he told her that she had had a rather official looking letter go into her mail box that morning. Nicole then realised she was due to get her letter in the last few days. She apologised and ran off to her room to get her mail box key.

Every student at the school had a mail box that only they, (and the student sorters) had access to. They each had a key that was kept in their room. She often had to check her Father's for him because he kept getting hate mail from anti-mutant protesters. Nicole kept her's in a box in her room with all her important objects. The box was a gift from her Mother before she passed away.

She bumped into Piotr on the way to her room, yelling a hasty 'Sorry!' over her shoulder as she turned the corner.

Kitty was in their room as she entered with a bang. She looked up in alarm as the door opened to see Nicole scrambling under her bed to try and find her box.

"What's going on?"

"I need to find my mail key, my letter is in there!"

She was frantic now. She _had _to get that letter. She _had _to know.

When she finally got the box she started shifting through the contents rapidly. She passed her Mother's locket, a ticket stub from the first movie she had ever seen in a cinema, a stick from a candyfloss that she had eaten at the carnival with her Mum and lots of other things. Mementoes from a better time. A time when her Mum was still alive. She found her key, slammed the lid down and shoved it back under the bed. She stood up and ran.

She ran quicker than she had ever ran before. However when she got to the hall that housed the mail boxes, she found that her hands were shaking and she couldn't get the key in the lock.

Nicole took a deep breath and steadied herself. She put the key in the lock and turned.

There in the box sat a letter. A rather inconspicuous letter. Plain white with Nicole's name and address on it. Nothing that would draw attention to itself. However it gave off a sense of self-importance. A sense that it could change somebody's life. Of course the envelope couldn't.

But the contents inside could.

Her hands started shaking again as she reached in and grabbed the letter. She couldn't open it alone.

She walked slowly back up to her room, not focusing on anything. She bumped into a couple of kids on the way up to her room. Muttering a quiet 'Sorry' as she passed. Not looking up from the letter in her hands.

She got to her door and slowly turned the door knob. She walked past Kitty, ignoring her questions, and sat down on the bed. She placed the envelope on the bed and kept staring at it.

Kitty came over and sat opposite her.

"Are you going to open it?" Nicole just shrugged.

"Do you want me to open it for you?" She nodded.

Kitty walked over to her desk and got a pair of scissors to open it. She returned to the bed. Nicole was biting her finger nails. She was so nervous. There was a ripping sound that cut through the silent air like a knife. Then there was the sound of paper against paper as Kitty removed the letter from the envelope.

She began to read.

"Dear Dr. McCoy…"


End file.
